Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-11-07
DAILY HERALD.
AT PORT BALLONA.
witnessing the First Yacht Race
Ira this Vicinity.

IN this vicinity.
The scene around Port Ballona yes
terday, while the excursion train
landed there in the forenoon. was a
busy one. The sound of many happy
voices, bent upon extracting as much
enjoyment from the many points of
interest, as it was possible to crowd
into the hours to be spent there,
blended with the putting of the great
engine that runs the immense dredge,
lent something of the air of a city to
the little place
The chief objects of amusement
were the boats upon the harbor, many
Of which dotted its surface here and
there, the gayly fiuttering
scarves and brilliant wraps of the
ladies, of whom there were quite
. number, giving the whole a some
what Oriental appearance.
A little after II O'Clock the chief
event Of the day. in the way of amuse-
ment, occurred. it being the race
between the yachts Carrie" sailed
by Captain w. p. Simpson, and
"Florette, sailed by Captain Baldwin,
both OF this city.
These yachts are very small, being
Racine boats. fitted out with "leg. Of
mutton" sails.
The "Florette" is the larger and
better boat OF the two, and has the
advantage of carrying, if wanted, two
sails, while the Carrie" only carries
one.
The "Florette," however, was not
allowed to use but one sail, as two
would give her much the advantage.
At II 15 the boats were brought to
the starting point, with Mr.. Peter
Taylor acting as referee. The signal
being given, the "Carrie" got off a
little in the lead, carrying "small
boy" as ballast; the "Florette"
came bravely along, suffer
ing somewhat for want of ballast,
as she had no one
aboard but Captain Baldwin. An
other thing in favor Of the Carrie, was
the wind, which was very light, and
the Florette, being the larger of the
two, did not show up over we'll under
it. When half mile had been sailed
the Carrie was about 100 yards in the
lead, and gaining; st the three
quarter stake she had lost some of
this lead, and only showed about SO
yards of clear water between herself
and opponent. At the turning-stake-
one and one-half miles from the start
ing point, the wind falling off little,
the Carrie gained rapidly and showed
a clear lead Of about $50 yards. This
lead she increased to about 200 yards
by the time she was within half
mile of the starting point, when
the Florette gave up the race,
claiming foul of some sort,
and asking that the race be run over
again. This was agreed to, and at
1895 another start was made, the
Florette taking the lead, with the
Carrie one second behind.
The wind had freshened a great
deal, and the race gave promise of
being fine one.
Captain Baldwin had taken aboard
a friend to act as ballast, and his boat
made fine showing, running COM
pletely away from the Carrie.
The Florette turned the stake in 16
minutes and 20 seconds, at least 400
yards in the lead.
The Carrie turned at IL
minutes and 80 seconds, sail
ing fast and ably handled.
About half-,nile out from the start
ing point the Florette had increased
her lead to about 500 or 600 yards,
finishing the lead with fully 600 yards
clear lead in the good time of % min
utes, the Carrie coming in one minute
later.
Both boats were finely sailed, and it
was only the superior size of the Flor
ette that gave her the race.
After these events the crowd turned
its attention to the sights and works
going on all around them. Port Bal
Iona is q busy little place, with a great
future before it.
The immense dredge. brought at
an enormous expense from San
Francisco, is doing fine work, clean
ing out the channel and harbor.
The machine cuts nine feet deep,
twenty feet long and 120 wide at a
single sweep, and forces all the mud
through pipes about 200 yards out
into the foundations of the wharf,
entering 600 feet into the ocean.
One large lighter has already been
constructed at the shipwards and
another is almost ready to be
launched, while there is enough lum-
her on hand to make two more.
The Creasote Works are being pushed |
to rapid completion and will be in |
operation in thirty days.
The managers hope to have the har-
Dor in condition to receive all the |
coasting vessels by the 1st of Febru-
ary, but will certainly do SO, provided
nothing unforeseen happens, some
time in February.
The scenery and general works OF
the harbor have already been de-
scribed in the HERALD, and of them
it is not necessary to speak. Suffice
to say that Port Ballona has the fines t
surf and one of the finest harbors
on the Pacific Coast. 1t is
claimed by the management that
they can furnish rough lumber there
$50 cheaper per ship-load than it can
be had for at San Pedro. Mr.. James
Campbell, one of the pleasant direct
ors OF the company, has secured fine
oil. l.steaIn launch that can carry party
OF fifteen persons at a rate of nine
miles per hour. This launch is a per-
feet little beauty and as it is run by
oil, has not the nuisance given by
the smoke and SCOT Of coal-tire.